1. Field of the Invention
The present invention pertains to footwear or shoe carriers, which are sometimes called shoe bags.
2. Background Information
Shoe or footwear carriers, also called shoe bags, are well known in the art. See, for representative examples, U.S. Pat. Nos. D140,519; 2,832,389; D395,752; D444,944; D453,994; D504,230; D547,063; 4,917,290; and 6,669,016.
Footwear carriers have been designed to simplify the carrying and storage of shoes. In many applications shoes that need to be transported do not fit easily into other carrying devices.
For example, in urban office environments it is common for workers to walk to work from a parking or public transportation location in walking shoes, such as tennis shoes, while carrying more office appropriate footwear. The office footwear does not easily fit into an office briefcase, or purse, that the worker may have on them.
As another representative example, gym patrons will often desire to have gym shoes transported outside of the gym bag itself, such as for space and/or aeration concerns. Further, gym patrons often utilize shower shoes or sandals for sanitary reasons, but have some difficulty in transporting wet shoes after the gym visit.
As another representative example, travelers often leave packaging shoes for last and shoes may not easily fit into the travel bags.
As another example, sporting participants often have specialized shoes for their sport, such as golf shoes, soccer shoes, baseball spikes, bowling shoes, which must be carried in a convenient fashion. Following use, it is often desirable to store the shoes in a place having a large amount of air flow.
For these, and other examples not listed herein, footwear carriers have been developed. However, there remains a need in the industry for providing an inexpensive, utilitarian, universal footwear carrying device to accommodate as least some of the footwear carrying needs. Further, as with footwear itself, it is helpful to provide such a carrier with a stylish flair.